The major headline heading into Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final was whether or not the Rangers could find a way to solve Andrei Vasilevskiy. While it is worth tempering expectations because it is only one game...wow. The Rangers didn’t waste any time putting that narrative to bed early on as they deposited six goals behind Tampa Bay’s backbone. Meanwhile at the other end of the ice, Igor Shesterkin did all he needed to do and kept the Rangers alive long enough to get the goal scoring flowing.
1st Period
With the Rangers only having a day off in between games, everyone expected the Lightning to come out early with their fresh legs.